Headline

Disparaging Comment Against Obaseki: Edo LG Forum Chides NULGE

Published

4 years ago

January 23, 2022

…Says Obaseki Has Improved LG Governance

The forum of Association of Heads of Local Government Administration in Edo State has stated that the allegations by the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) against Governor Godwin Obaseki of perpetrating corruption and illegality at the councils as mischievous and crass display of ignorance of working at the grass root by the body.

The body rather noted that Obaseki’s ingenuity has brought increase in the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and thus mprove governance at the Councils.

In a statement jointly endorsed by the Chairman of the Forum, Desmond Imonike, (Etsako East) Local Government, Ahonsi Mathias, (Ovia North East) and Shaibu Ekha Ademola, (Owan East), condemned the statement by the state NULGE chairman, Mr Lazarus Adorolo, noting that it is not a reflection of governance in the LGA’s.

The forum noted that with the improvement in the IGR of the councils through some measures by the State Government, they have been up to date with wage bill obligations as well as carrying out some developmental projects.

They also affirmed that the State Government has not introduce any extraneous formula in the sharing of the federal allocation and other sources of revenue to the 18 councils outside what is permitted by law.

Contrary to Adorolo’s position that the councils were not involved in revenue sharing, the administrators maintained that they participate fully in the Pre Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC) and the actual JAAC.

The stated: “We have read the press statement made by the State President of NULGE and wish to state without equivocation that the statement was made in ignorance without knowing the workings of Government.

“First and foremost, we the helmsmen at the 18 local governments participate fully in both the pre JAAC and actual JAAC meetings where the proceeds of the Federation Accounts due to the 18 local governments are shared amongst us.

“At such meetings, there is always a robust debate before decisions are reached and the money distributed accordingly.

“The State Government does not introduce any extraneous factor in the sharing outside what is permitted by law.

“On the issue of ten percent internal revenue generated by the State Government being added to sharing, it is strange because subsequent Governors from Igbinedion to Oshiomhole has never shared such among Councils.

“We are baffled and cannot explain why the state president of NULGE would single out the Obaseki administration as a culprit, this beats our imagination.

“Since April 2021 and due to the Obaseki Administration efforts at repositioning the Councils, salaries are regular and efforts are on top gear to settle the backlogs,” the statement declared.

While noting the decline in revenue accruing to the Councils from the federation due to present economic crunch, the forum called on Adorolo to mobilise his members for revenue drive to improve IGR.

“Due to the present economic crunch, payment of levies at the local levels have dwindled and in addition, the price of crude oil has fallen the resultant effect is the reduction available to the local governments nationwide and Edo State is not an exception.

“So what one would expect from the State President is first and foremost to express his gratitude to the State Governor for saving the councils from total collapse and mobilise his members for revenue drive instead of this kind of vituperation which would do no one any good,” it stated.

Headline

Serbia Indicts Ex-minister, 12 Others Over Train Station Tragedy

Published

3 hours ago

September 16, 2025

Editor

Serbian prosecutors filed an updated indictment on Tuesday against 13 people, including a former minister, over a fatal railway station roof collapse that has triggered a wave of anti-government protests.

The prosecution said all those indicted, among them former construction minister Goran Vesic, face charges of “serious crimes against public safety” over the tragedy that killed 16 people last November.

“The indictment proposes that the Higher Court in Novi Sad order custody for all the defendants,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

The roof collapse at the newly renovated station in Serbia’s second-largest city, Novi Sad, became a symbol of entrenched corruption and sparked almost daily protests.

Protesters first demanded a transparent investigation, but their calls soon escalated into demands for early elections.

The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad initially filed an indictment at the end of December, but judges returned it in April, requesting more information.

The accused were released or placed under house arrest following the decision.

The prosecutor’s office said it had complied with the judge’s request and had now completed the supplementary investigation.

The prosecutor specialising in organised crime and corruption in Belgrade is leading a separate, independent investigation into the tragedy.

That investigation is focused on 13 people, including Vesic and another former minister, Tomislav Momirovic, who headed the Construction Ministry before him.

In March, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) launched a third, separate investigation into the possible misuse of EU funds for the station’s reconstruction.

AFP

Headline

Kazakhstan Bans Forced Marriage, Bride Kidnapping

Published

3 hours ago

September 16, 2025

Editor

Kazakhstan has banned forced marriages and bride kidnappings through a law that came into effect Tuesday in the Central Asian country, where the practice persists despite new attention being paid to women’s rights.

Forcing someone to marry is now punishable by up to 10 years in prison, Kazakh police said in a statement.

“These changes are aimed at preventing forced marriages and protecting vulnerable categories of citizens, especially women and adolescents,” it added.

Bride kidnappings have also been outlawed.

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“Previously, a person who voluntarily released a kidnapped person could expect to be released from criminal liability. Now this possibility has been eliminated,” the police said.

There are no reliable statistics of forced marriage cases across the country, with no separate article in the criminal code prohibiting it until now.

A Kazakh lawmaker said earlier this year that the police had received 214 such complaints over the past three years.

The custom is also present in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, where it mostly goes unpunished due to indifferent law enforcement and stigma surrounding whistleblowers.

The issue of women’s rights in Kazakhstan gained media attention in 2023 following the murder of a woman by her husband, a former minister, a case that shocked Kazakh society and prompted President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to react.

“Some people hide behind so-called traditions and try to impose the practice of wife stealing. This blatant obscurantism cannot be justified,” Tokayev said last year.

AFP

Headline

Russia Arrests Woman For Detonating Bomb On Railway

Published

3 hours ago

September 16, 2025

Editor

Russia’s FSB security service said on Tuesday it had arrested a woman in her fifties accused of detonating explosives in a bid to sabotage the Trans-Siberian Railway.

The suspect was allegedly working on behalf of Ukrainian intelligence, the FSB said, in the latest incident of alleged covert activity during the countries’ conflict.

“In August 2025, following the instructions provided by the adversary, the suspect manufactured a homemade explosive device from publicly available components, placed it on the railway tracks and triggered it,” the Russian agency said.

“She recorded the moment of the explosion on her mobile phone camera and sent the footage as a report to the handler to receive a reward.”

The statement did not name the suspect but said she was born in 1974 and carried out the alleged attack in eastern Siberia’s Zabaikalsky region.

The FSB warned Russians that it was monitoring social networks and online messenger services such as Telegram and WhatsApp for evidence of Ukrainian services recruiting Russians to carry out sabotage.

Separately, the agency told state news agency TASS that a man had been sentenced to 18 years and six months for transporting explosives on behalf of a “pro-Ukrainian” group.

A resident of the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, had, the FSB said, established contact through the Telegram app with a banned “terrorist organisation”.

He allegedly retrieved explosives from a cache on the orders of this group before waiting for “further instructions”, according to the same source cited by TASS.

He was jailed by a military tribunal.

AFP